President Trump signed House Joint Resolution 69 into law, which undid an onerous law forbidding any hunting on lands that fall under the purview of the National Wildlife Refuge System in Alaska. Here’s more on the legislation:

This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Department of the Interior on August 5, 2016, relating to non-subsistence takings of wildlife and public participation and closure procedures on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.

The Senate and House of Representatives previously passed the joint resolution with votes of 52 to 47 and 225 to 193, respectively. The former version passed on March 21st, 2017, while the latter version passed on February 16, 2017. Here’s some more clarification on the legislation:

The FWS rule underlying H.J. Res. 69 was finalized on August 5, 2016. It argued that Alaska’s wildlife management practices had begun to deviate from federal policies and therefore would be preempted in various respects.

Highlighting the political nature of the rule, however, was the involvement of the anti-hunting Humane Society of the United States, which ran typically hyperbolic television ads falsely claiming that its repeal would allow for inhumane forms of taking bears and wolves.

The basic point of contention, however, was whether local Alaskan wildlife management authorities or the federal government should ultimately be responsible for setting policy on fish and wildlife management on National Wildlife Refuges within Alaska’s borders.

Not surprisingly, the Sierra Club screamed bloody murder in response to this resolution being signed into law:

Now hunters can kill grizzlies and wolves on Alaska’s wildlife refuges, including mother grizzlies with their cubs, and wolves with their pups in their dens. State wildlife officials can even shoot at grizzly bears from helicopters (Sarah Palin, eat your grizzly-mama heart out).

Nobody is intent on killing bear cubs. This talking point is pure propaganda. Those very acts are heavily discouraged and frowned upon in the hunting community, as young wildlife are usually off-limits.

Perhaps it’s time for state wildlife management entities to take in the reigns from the federal government, no? Tell us how you feel and whether this is good or bad legislation.